Come on, P&G–Where Are the Dads?

If you’ve been watching the Olympics (or just about anything else these days), you’ve been bombarded with Procter and Gamble’s “Thank You, Mom” ads. Even my 9-year old daughter is sick of them: “Why don’t they talk about dads?” she asks. And I really can’t come up with a decent answer–or at least one that isn’t laced with profanity.

Several months back, I started a petition to urge P&G to start acknowledging dads and the major contributions we make to our children’s lives. I’ve already talked in previous posts about the research showing that the majority of kids who get involved in sports do so because their dads were there encouraging and supporting them, and even more studies that proved how vital dads are to our children’s development and wellbeing. You can read some of that research here.

Here’s just one of the poignant comments we received from people who signed the petition: “I’m 14 years old and i wanted to voice my opinion on this. I am an elite level gymnast and spend about 50 hours + a week at the gym. My DAD moved halfway across the country so i could live my dream. Paid ALL the expenses and drove me to practice everyday! My “Mother” decided to walk out on us both when I was three. So it’s highly offensive to me when you make it out at dad don’t exist.”

But if all you had to go on was P&G’s ads, you’d think that all our athlete were abandoned by their fathers and raised exclusively by single mothers.

I’ve partnered with the NYC Dads Group to boost awareness of the petition, which we believe does a huge disservice to dads–and moms.